Keyboardist Jonathan Cain tells ABC Audio that he’s “really excited” about the concert, which he says will be filmed.
Cain also reports that the band will be accompanied by a 24-piece orchestra led by a conductor from the University of Las Vegas, and the performance will showcase his band’s greatest hits.
“It should be an amazing evening,” he adds.
Jonathan hints that Journey’s latest single, “The Way We Used to Be,” also will be featured in the show. He tells ABC Audio that while the band is in Vegas this month, it’s planning to record a new version of the song with an orchestra.
Cain admits that he’s been disappointed with how “The Way We Used to Be” has been received since its release in June. Jonathan says he loves the song, and insists that it will remain in Journey’s live set.
“So…if you don’t like the song, too bad,” he declares. “You’re gonna have to sit and listen to it.”
Explaining why the song appeals to him, Cain says, “It’s just something different. We don’t we don’t have anything like it in our set…And [guitarist] Neal [Schon] played so well on it. And the fans really receive it, you know?”
Meanwhile, Jonathan says Journey may do a few more symphonic shows while on tour next year. “Just where we can, where we have people that want to go do it,” he maintains.
Journey’s Freedom Tour 2022 kicks off on February 22 in Pittsburgh. Billy Idol will serve as the trek’s opening act through April 5, when Toto takes over.
Spider-Man: No Way Home swings into theaters Friday!
Ahead of the release, stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon remained tight-lipped about the film’s plot as they’re sworn to secrecy, which is something they’re used to by now.
Recalling the first film — No Way Home is the third — Zendaya tells ABC News, “We were talking about when we did the first movie. Like, the biggest thing that…the biggest spoil was like, my name was MJ. And now if you only knew.”
Batalon doubled down on that statement, before Zendaya adds, “The things I can’t say now. So …we got some good practice. I think the stakes are just a little bit higher.”
Even though the cast can’t give any major spoilers away, the trio did tease what fans can expect.
“Villains. Friendship. Fighting. Fun. Emotion. Scariness,” Holland reveals.
“New sides to the characters we’ve never seen before,” Zendaya chimes, which Holland co-signs, “That’s very true. Jacob becomes a hero.”
Batalon confirms, “Yup, all of those things, plus more.”
While the frenzy surrounding Marvel’s Spider-Man is something that has been a “very overwhelming experience” for Holland, he says being able to experience the mania with his cast mates has made all the difference.
“There’s no one I would rather do this with,” he shares. “And you know, this has been a very overwhelming experience. The last six years of our life has felt like we’ve been on a roller coaster, so to be on that roller coaster together makes it that much easier.”
(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) — The prosecution wrapped up its arguments in the trial against Kim Potter, who fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in April. In its case, the state is zeroing in on Potter’s training as a Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer.
Police officers and use of force experts have been called on the stand one-by-one to analyze Potter’s actions.
She is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter in his death. Potter has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Wright was pulled over for an expired registration tab and a hanging air freshener in the rearview mirror, police said.
Potter said she meant to grab her stun gun but accidentally shot her firearm instead when she and other officers were attempting to arrest Wright, who had escaped the officers’ grip and was scuffling with them when he was shot. He then drove away, crashing into another vehicle shortly after.
Prosecutors argued that regardless of her intent, Potter acted recklessly and negligently. She should have known the difference between her handgun and her stun gun, given her more than 20 years of experience on the force, they said.
They are also arguing that Potter should not have used her stun gun in such a situation since it’s against department policy.
Prosecutor Matthew Frank highlighted portions of the training materials that said a stun gun should not be used simply to stop fleeing suspects or on suspects who are operating vehicles. Wright was in the driver’s seat of his car when he was shot.
The defense maintained that Potter’s actions were a mistake but argued that Potter was within her rights to use deadly force on Wright since he could have dragged another officer with his car.
Sgt. Mike Peterson, a special agent for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, took the stand as a state’s witness. He testified that officers should usually take bystanders, nearby officers, and the scene in the background into account when deciding to use a weapon.
Expert: Unreasonable use of force
Use-of-force expert Seth Stoughton, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, testified that Potter’s use of deadly force was inappropriate.
“The evidence suggests a reasonable officer in Officer Potter’s position could not have believed it was proportional to the threat at the time,” Stoughton said on the witness stand.
Stoughton testified that deadly force would have been inappropriate even if Potter believed another officer was in the car — because it could have posed a risk to nearby officers and Wright’s girlfriend.
He said any reasonable officer wouldn’t have decided to use a stun gun instead of a firearm if they thought there was an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm.
In an analysis of the incident, he also said that “a reasonable officer in that situation would not have believed” those threats existed.
How Brooklyn Center officers are trained
Using pages from the manufacturer’s and the department’s training materials as evidence, Frank showed the jury that the dangers of mixing up a stun gun and a handgun are discussed at length in the training and certification process.
Potter was trained to keep her stun gun on the holster of her less-dominant side, performing a cross-draw where the dominant hand reaches across the body for Taser, according to former Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon.
“The policy was: opposite side of your duty firearm,” said Brooklyn Center officer Anthony Luckey, who also testified that Brooklyn Center officers had extensive training on pulling out their firearms and their stun guns. “That way, officers do not get their firearms confused with their Tasers.”
He confirmed that officers practice drawing the stun guns, go through slideshow lessons and perform continuous hands-on training regarding their weapons. In addition, they also go through training as not to confuse their weapons.
Sam McGinnis, a senior special agent with the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, led the jury through the Brooklyn Center department’s training procedures for using stun guns.
On the witness stand, he showed the jury how “spark tests” are done. He did one with his own device, which generated a loud buzz for five seconds as electricity arced across the electrodes.
Based on department policy, spark tests are supposed to be done at the beginning of every shift to ensure their stun guns are working.
McGinnis testified that Potter didn’t test her stun gun on the day she shot Wright or the day before.
She did run the check six out of her last 10 shifts. McGinnis testified that he was unsure of how compliant the department’s officers were with the policy.
Stun gun versus firearm
McGinnis testified about the differences between stun guns and firearms, as well as how they’re supposed to be used. He said that the holsters on Potter’s duty belt require an officer to make specific, deliberate actions to release the weapons.
For instance, the Taser holster has a lever, while the handgun holster is closed with a snap.
“Once the Taser is inside of the holster, it’s retained there by that security mechanism and can’t be brought out again until that is pushed and the Taser’s released,” McGinnis said.
The Taser is a bright yellow color and weighs just under a pound, McGinnis testified. Potter’s handgun was black and weighed over 2 pounds. The Taser and firearm both have different triggers, grips and safety mechanisms that are necessary before they can be used, McGinnis testified.
The stun gun has a laser and LED lights that display before it is fired, and he demonstrated the effects before the jury. The handgun does not have these features.
Stoughton also testified that the dangers of “weapons confusion” are well known.
The defense said it plans on introducing testimony about traumatic incidents, police work and action errors, which defense attorney Paul Engh said will be “about how it is that we do one thing while meaning to do another.”
The defense has cited “action errors” as a reason for Potter to reach for her firearm when meaning to grab her stun gun.
“[Testimony] will tell you in times of chaos, acute stress decisions have to be made when there is no time for reflection,” he said during the opening statement. “What happens in these high catastrophic instances is that the habits that are ingrained, the training that’s ingrained takes over. In these chaotic situations, the historic training is applied and the newer training is discounted.”
Engh said that stun guns have only been available in the last 10 years to the department and this is a brand new stun gun, “whereas, by comparison, Potter has 26 years of gun training. And an error can happen.”
Stoughton said he knew of “fewer than 20” cases since stun guns entered law enforcement departments in the ’90s. Stoughton said stun gun manufacturers have taken several steps to prevent errors, and it’s become a vital part of officer training.
(WASHINGTON) — Intelligence dispatches, memoranda, and cables between U.S. government agencies in the years leading up to and after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination nearly 60 years ago have been released by the National Archives.
Fifty-eight years ago in Dallas, Texas, Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, but since Oswald himself was killed shortly after the assassination, questions lingered about whether anyone else was involved, feeding conspiracy theories.
President Joe Biden ordered the release of the documents in October but it’s being done in stages, with thousands remaining secret amid intelligence agency concerns about what they could reveal.
While there appeared to be no explosive revelations, among the documents released on Wednesday were CIA memos discussing Lee Harvey Oswald’s previously disclosed trips to the Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico City months before President Kennedy was killed.
One of those CIA memos — written the day after the assassination — says Oswald communicated with a KGB officer while at the Soviet embassy that September.
“According to an intercepted phone call in Mexico City, Lee Oswald was in the Soviet Embassy there on 23 September and spoke with Consul Valeriy Vladimirovich,” the document said.
“Oswald called the Soviet Embassy in 1 October, identifying himself by name and speaking broken Russian, stating the above and asking the guard who answered the phone whether there was ‘anything concerning the telegram to Washington,'” read the memo from a high-ranking CIA official.
Oswald — who was married to a Russian woman — was trying to get visas to move to the Soviet Union, according to the documents.
Another newly released document shows a tip from a U.S. official in Australia two days after the assassination — an anonymous call to the embassy from a man claiming to be a chauffeur for Soviet diplomats who said the Soviets had “probably” financed the assassination.
That, U.S. officials asserted, was a crank call.
Biden has ordered the review of the remaining 14,000 documents and the National Archives is required to release those by December 2022 — unless intelligence agencies raise issues.
The National Archives says the vast majority of documents related to the assassination have been made publicly available.
ABC News’ Jack Date, Quinn Owen and Lucien Bruggeman contributed to this report.
(MAYFIELD, Ky.) — Workers at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory where eight people were killed by tornadoes last weekend filed a class-action lawsuit against their employer late Wednesday night.
The factory was destroyed when tornadoes tore through nine states, leaving 89 people dead.
The lawsuit, filed in the Graves Circuit Court in Kentucky by Elijah Johnson and 109 other “similarly situated employees,” alleges that the candle factory required them to continue working, even with the threat of an expected dangerous tornado.
One employee claimed she was threatened with disciplinary action if she went home early on the night tornadoes were expected.
The candle factory allegedly threatened to fire any employees that left because of the expected tornado, just hours before it destroyed the factory, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit claims the factory showed “flagrant indifference to the rights of Plaintiff Johnson and to the other similarly situated Plaintiffs with a subjective awareness that such conduct will result in human death and/or bodily injuries.”
Workers were allegedly not informed of the danger of the incoming tornado nor did supervisors tell them what was “really going on,” according to the court filing.
Mayfield Consumer Products CEO Troy Propes said the company is establishing an emergency fund to assist employees and their families.
The employees are seeking a jury trial, compensation, punitive damages and legal fees, all with interest.
“Management at that factory caused, oversaw, and facilitated a shirking of decency with regard to duties of care, and faithful employees are now injured or dead, two weekends before Christmas,” Attorney William Davis said in a statement released on Tuesday.
Propes told ABC News that the company is conducting an independent review of procedures separate from an investigation by the governor’s office and will review methods and procedures to see that they were properly followed.
In previous news reports, the factory denied that workers were threatened.
“It’s absolutely untrue,” Bob Ferguson, a spokesman for Mayfield Consumer Products told NBC News. “We’ve had a policy in place since COVID began. Employees can leave any time they want to leave and they can come back the next day.”
Ferguson told NBC News that managers and team leaders undergo a series of emergency drills that follow guidelines of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“Those protocols are in place and were followed,” he said.
He denied that managers told employees that leaving their shifts meant risking their jobs, according to NBC News.
A spokesperson for Mayfield Consumer Products did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(WASHINGTON) — The remaining 12 hostages from a U.S.-based missionary group have been released by the Haitian gang that had held them for two months, Haitian authorities and the missionary group confirmed Thursday.
Their release was secured two months to the day after they were first detained by the notoriously violent group that had demanded $1 million for each of the 16 Americans and one Canadian, including five children.
“We glorify God for answered prayer—the remaining twelve hostages are FREE! Join us in praising God that all seventeen of our loved ones are now safe. Thank you for your fervent prayers throughout the past two months. We hope to provide more information as we are able,” Christian Aid Ministries said in a statement.
Haitian police confirmed to ABC News that the hostages were released Thursday morning in a suburb of the country’s capital Port-au-Prince, and a Haitian National Police patrol picked them up.
It’s unclear if that ransom was paid for their release.
The gang, known as 400 Mawozo, released two of the hostages — a couple — in late November as a humanitarian gesture because one of them was sick. Last week, three more missionaries were released, but Christian Aid Ministries declined to provide more information on their identities or how their release was secured.
All 17 missionaries were taken on Oct. 16 as they were returning from a visit to an orphanage in an area dominated by 400 Mawozo, one of the powerful criminal gangs that have operated with impunity in Haiti.
Haiti was devastated by a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake this August that killed over 2,200 people — and is still reeling from the assassination of its president in July, the constitutional crisis he had created, and the political chaos that has followed his killing.
President Joe Biden has said he was regularly updated on U.S. efforts to free the missionary group, which involved the FBI, the State Department, the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince, and other government agencies. It’s unclear if they played a role in their release Thursday.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Titled Fast & Loose, the collection includes previously unreleased shots of the “Ace of Spades” legends taken between 1977 and 1982 by photographer Graham Mitchell, who was also the band’s tour manager.
“I somehow knew how important it all was,” Mitchell says of taking the photos. “I knew I needed to capture at least some of those moments. I’d see the band to the stage and then immediately go out into the house, jostle with the punters, and get what I could.”
Mitchell adds that the photos reflect the oft-uttered Motörhead motto: “Take no f***ing prisoners.”
“It always made sense to me,” Mitchell says. “I like to think these photos capture that in all its (occasionally grotty but never boring) glory.”
Fast & Loose is out now in the U.S., and will be released in the U.K. on December 30.
Mariah Carey is helping London Underground’s commuters to feel a bit more festive on their travels by taking over the system’s intercom.
The Grammy winner revealed on Wednesday that she has teamed with Amazon Music UK to take over the transit system’s speakers to make sure travelers stay safe and “stand behind the yellow line.”
In a post on her socialmediasites, Mariah said she aims to “bring some festive cheer to the London Underground” with her new partnership, and wishes everyone using the transit system “Safe travels!!” She also shared a clip of her new greeting for passengers on London Tube lines. Unfortunately, she does not tell travelers to “Mind the gap.”
“Hi darlings, it’s Mariah,” her announcement over the PA system begins, as sleigh bells jingle in the background. “Make my wish come true and please stand behind the yellow line at all times. Proceed with caution. And don’t forget to ask Alexa to play ‘All I Want for Christmas’ on Amazon Music!”
The partnership is meant to promote her classic holiday song, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which is now the only holiday song to obtain RIAA-certified Diamond status.
No word yet if Mariah plans to take over any rail lines on the other side of the pond, but we’ll let you know when — or if — it happens.
A new series executive produced by Will Smith, BEL-AIR, will premiere on Super Bowl Sunday, February 13.
Set in modern-day America, BEL-AIR is a serialized one-hour dramatic analogue of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air that leans into the original premise: Will’s complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. BEL-AIR will stream weekly shows on Peacock.
In other news, Meagan Good, star of the Amazon Prime TV series Harlem, is partnering with the World Vision charity to help reduce hunger around the world. She has designed the Tie that Binds wrap bracelet for the World Vision gift catalog. The sale of the bracelet “helps meet critical needs both today and tomorrow, equipping people to rebuild in the wake of disasters and helping empower communities to lift themselves out of poverty.”
“It’s about making change that continues to stretch out and pay it forward,” the 40-year-old actress tells Essence. “Help change someone’s life. Help save someone’s life. Help kids get an education, get food, make money and have a job. Help them have a whole other shot at life just by giving a gift to somebody you love.”
Finally, Diddy‘s Revolt TV is partnering with Target for a show promoting Black businesses. T-Pain will be among the judges on Bet on Black, a new multiscreen series where Black entrepreneurs pitch their businesses in the hopes of securing funding.
Bet on Black will premiere on Revolt’s digital platforms on January 10 at 9 p.m. ET and extend to all platforms starting January 11 at 9 p.m. ET.
(NEW YORK) — Defense attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, began to present their case on Thursday after a judge denied their request to allow three of their anticipated witnesses to testify under a pseudonym or using only their first names.
In her decision, Judge Alison Nathan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York wrote that the court, “after significant independent research,” could not identify a single case in which a court has previously granted the use of pseudonyms to defense witnesses, leading her to believe that the request was unprecedented.
Nathan ruled that, unlike the government’s witnesses who were granted anonymity, the defense’s witnesses are expected to deny any sexual misconduct by Epstein and Maxwell, so they would not qualify as victims entitled to such protection.
The defense’s claims regarding the high-profile nature of the case failed to sway the judge.
“The Defense argues that anonymity is necessary to protect its witnesses from scrutiny and harassment because of the significant publicity this case has garnered,” Nathan wrote. “But these generalized concerns are present in every high-profile criminal case. They do not present the rare circumstances that prior courts have found justify the use of pseudonyms.”
The defense appears to be centered on downplaying Maxwell’s role in Epstein’s life and highlighting the fallibility of human memory following two weeks of testimony from multiple women who say Maxwell frequently facilitated, and sometimes participated in, their sexual abuse by Epstein when they were underage.
Thursday’s first witness, Maxwell’s former personal assistant Cimberly Espinosa, described Maxwell as Epstein’s “estate manager,” and said that while Maxwell and Epstein “behaved like a couple,” they never lived together, and that their relationship changed when they both began to date other people.
Espinosa described Epstein as “a giver” and “a kind person,” and testified that during her six years of employment, she never saw either Epstein or Maxwell behave inappropriately with underage girls.
During cross-examination, however, she acknowledged that she worked in Epstein’s office and never at his homes, where Maxwell’s accusers allege their abuse took place.
A subsequent witness, University of California-Irvine psychology professor Elizabeth Loftus, testified that sometimes people “remember things differently than they actually were.” Loftus, an expert on human memory, is not permitted to testify directly about any of Maxwell’s accusers, many of whom provided gut-wrenching tales of abuse — but she said that “emotion is no guarantee you’re dealing with an authentic memory.”
Human memory “doesn’t work like a recording device,” Loftus said, and people can “fall sway to misinformation and their memory becomes inaccurate.”
Maxwell faces a six-count indictment for allegedly conspiring with and aiding Epstein in his sexual abuse of underage girls between 1994 and 2004. She has been held without bail since her arrest in July 2020 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
It’s unclear whether Maxwell will take the stand during her trial. If convicted, she could spend decades in prison.
